Open AccessOphthalmoscopic Findings in Malignant Hypertension
Author(s) -
Hammond Stephen,
Wells Jill Razor,
Marcus Dennis M.,
Prisant L. Michael
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the journal of clinical hypertension
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1751-7176
pISSN - 1524-6175
DOI - 10.1111/j.1524-6175.2005.04147.x
Subject(s) - medicine , cotton wool spots , nerve fiber layer , hypertensive retinopathy , retinal , optical coherence tomography , optic nerve , ophthalmology , retina , retinopathy , pathology , diabetes mellitus , optics , physics , endocrinology
Malignant hypertension may present with retinopathy, choroidopathy, and optic neuropathy. Flame‐shaped retinal hemorrhages, an early finding, are due to smooth muscle necrosis and bleeding along the nerve fiber layer. Cotton‐wool spots, or cytoid bodies, are not exudates, but rather are retinal infarcts. Hypertensive optic neuropathy is a late finding. Optical coherence tomography is a relatively new imaging technique for evaluating retinal thickness and the location of pathology in patients with malignant hypertension.